GFMC: Forest Fires in the Russian Federation
Forest Fires in the Russian Federation
11 July 2011
Fire danger map for June for Eastern Siberia:
Source: Sukachev Institute for Forest, Krasnoyarsk
Eurasian Experimental Fire Weather Information System
The system has been developed by forest fire researchers from Canada, Russia and Germany has been displayed on this website starting 18 July 2001. Complete information and a set of daily fire weather and fire behaviour potential maps covering Eurasia (the Baltic Region, Eastern Europe, countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Mongolia) can be accessed at:
https://gfmc.online/fwf/eurasia1.htm
Latest Experimental Fire Weather Index (FWI) map for Eurasia (today)
Note: The components of the Fire Weather Index and the meteorological data below are updated daily at ca. 15:00 GMT/UTC by the Northern Forestry Centre, Canada. In the list below the latest maps (including the FWI) can be downloaded. These maps will provide the information at the date of clicking on the link.
Fire Weather Index Components Meteorological Data Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC) Precipitation Duff Moisture Code (DMC) Relative humidity Drought Code (DC) Temperature Initial Spread Index (ISI) Wind direction Buildup Index (BUI) Wind speed Fire Weather Index (FWI)
Latest Situation Updates of the Aerial Forest Fire Centre of Russia
Wildfire situation report of the Aerial Forest Fire Center of Russia (Avialesookhrana) 05 July, 2011
According to the wildfire situation report of 5 July 2011 a total of
85 fires affected 1614 ha forested and 272 ha non-forested lands.
36 fires of them were reported as new fires.
An except 26 fires were put out the same day they have been discovered.
Through all of Russia 1684 people 40 aircraft, 289 bulldozers, tractors and engines have
been involved in fire fighting.
Since the beginning of the 2011 fire season a total of 14542 fires
affected 709453 ha forested and 230195 ha non-forested lands of the Forest Fund of Russia.
Most fires have been reported in the following regions:
Arkhangelsk region – 17
Zabaikalsk region – 11
Komi republic – 13
Satellite-derived fire information
Avialesookhrana provides also up-to-date satellite images for the Russian Federation and neighboring territories.
Latest (11 July 2011 15:00 GMT) NOAA 12&14 AVHRR composite.
The red squares indicate regions of active fires (MODIS Detection).
For details the GFMC readers are encouraged to use the hyperlinks provided by Avialesookhrana.
(Source: Avialesookhrana cloudiness maps)
The Space Monitoring Information Support Laboratory provides extensive links to sites with satellite imagery for the Russian Federation, meteorological information as well as fire related images are accessible. The FIRMS is offering an experimental version of MODIS Keyhole Markup Language (KML) time series showing Collection 5 active fire/hotspot detections by animating the location of fires that have occurred in the region in the last 48 hours (Google Earth must be installed):
http://firefly.geog.umd.edu/kml/download.php?file=Russia_and_Asia_48h.kml
Daily Fire Occurrence and Fire Danger Maps of the Fire Laboratory of the Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk
Selected fire occurrence maps, satellite images and a forest fire danger map are prepared daily by the Russian GFMC correspondent Dr. Anatoly Sukhinin, Fire Laboratory of the Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk, in collaboration with the Emergency Situation Monitoring and Forecasting Agency, Krasnoyarsk branch. The maps are produced on the base of satellite data (classification by the NOAA AVHRR). They show the fire locations (by latitude and longitude) and the area affected by fire (red signature, size in ha). The red arrow at each fire location points to the nearest populated place. The terms Oblast or Kray used in the maps are designations of administrative regions. A map showing the boundaries of administrative regions and a legend is included below.
Map legend
Administrative boundaries
Overview map showing large fire locations detected over the last 10 days:
Overview
Latest maps maps showing fire activities of 11 July 2011 (selection):
Amur Region Yakutia (Saha Republic) Yakutia (Saha Republic)
More maps of other regions are available on request: info@gfmc.org
From the Media
Fire situation on the territory of the Russian Federation from the 07. July 2011
77 hotbeds of wildfires with the total area 1187.99 hectares have been registered in the Russian Federation within twenty four hours. 69 hotbeds with the area of 2737.48 ha have been extinguished. 79 hotbeds, including those emerged earlier and 3 large ones continue burning, the area of active burning is 169.26 ha, 2634.11 ha has been contained.
Within the past twenty four hours 69 hotbeds of wildfires with the total area of 2737.48 hectares were extinguished, including 35 with the area of 148.631 ha extinguished on the day of detection.
Within twenty four hours wildfires have gone 1187.99 hectares, including 1137.71 hectares forest land, 47.82 hectares steppe land and 2.365 ha – peat land.
79 hotbeds of wildfires (the area of active burning is 169.26 hectares, 2634.11 ha have been contained) continue burning, including 77 hotbeds with the area of 2704.35 ha – on the forest lands, 1 hotbedss with the area of 99.0 ha – on the specially protected lands, 1 hotbed with the area of 0.02 ha – on agricultural lands. Including 3 large fire with the area 750.0 ha in Komi Republic (2 hotbeds with the area 650.0 ha) and in Arkhangelsk Region (1 hotbed with the area 100.0 ha).
There are 6 uncontrolled undergrowth burning sites and 4 hotbeds of waste burning on the territory of the Russian Federation.
1568 people and 281 units of equipment were involved to extinguish wildfires. Of those involved:
230 people and 68 units of equipment – by the Russian Emergency Ministry;
704 people and 126 units of equipment were involved by FFA;
62 people and 6 units of equipment – by the Ministry of Environment;
572 people and 81 units of equipment – by other federal and territorial subsystems of the System of Emergency Prevention and Relief.
Compared to the previous 24 hours there is a rise in the number (by 8 hotbeds) and a fall in areas on fire (by 1549.49 ha).
The most difficult situation with fires is developing in Zabaikalsky Territory, Irkutsk and Arkhangelsk Regions; Komi Republic (hard to reach areas).
Given the forecast, the emergency wildfire situation will remain in the Siberian, Volga, Southern and Central Federal Districts: Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Saratov, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Yroslavl Regions, Krasnodar Territory.
Change in area and number of active fire hotbeds
Federal Districts
(Subjects with the most difficult situation)
Wildfires burning
number /area of active burning/
total area, ha/
including large ones (area ha)
Dynamics of changes in
number of hotbeds
and areas on fire
as of 06.07.2011
as of 07.07.2011
Sakha (Yakutia) Republic
0/0,0
0,0
0/0
1/1,44
33,0
0/0,0
Increase by 1 hotbed
Increase by 33,0 ha
Chukotka Autonomous District
3/5,7
362,4
1/229,0
4/1,65
160,8
0/0,0
Increase by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 201,6 ha
Amur Region1/0,0
75,0
0/0,01/1,0
5,0
0/0,0
No changes
Decrease by 70,0 ha
Far Eastern FD4/5,7
437,4
1/229,06/4,09
198,8
0/0,0Decrease by 2 hotbeds
Decrease by 238,6 ha
Tomsk Region
1/1,76
50,0
0/0,0
0/0,0
0,0
0/0,0
Decrease by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 50,0 ha
Krasnoyarsk Territory
2/2,34
47,0
0/0,0
3/2,29
41,0
0/0,0
Increase by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 6,0 ha
Irkutsk
Region
9/12,97
388,0
0/0
5/8,11
294,0
0/0
Decrease by 4 hotbeds
Decrease by 94,0 ha
Zabaikalsky Territory
11/22,11
870,0
0/0
9/17,92
766,0
0/0
Decrease by 2 hotbed
Decrease by 104,0 ha
Buryat Republic9/15,26
496,0
0/00/0,0
0,0
0/0Decrease by 9 hotbeds
Decrease by 496,0 ha
Siberian FD
32/ 54,51
1851,0
0/0,0
17/ 28,31
1101,0
0/0,0
Decrease by 15 hotbeds
Decrease by 750,0 ha,
Sverdlovsk Region
1/0,3
0,3
0/0
0/0,0
0,0
0/0
Decrease by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 0,3 ha
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District
0/0,0
0,0
0/0
1/0,6
62,0
0/0
Increase by 1 hotbeds
Increase by 62,0 ha
Urals FD
1/0,3
0,3
0/0
1/0,6
62,0
0/0
No changes
Increase by 61,7 ha
Perm Territory
1/2,0
9,0
0/0
1/0,05
0,5
0/0
No changes
Decrease by 8,5 ha
Volga FD1/2,0
9,0
0/01/0,05
0,5
0/0No changes
Decrease by 8,5 ha
Republic of Karelia2/10,0
23,1
0/04/0,6
5,02
0/0Increase by 2 hotbeds
Decrease by 18,08 ha
Komi Republic
13/121,5
1867,23
2/1450
25/123,6
1233,29
2/650
Increase by 12 hotbeds
Decrease by 633,93 ha
Arkhangelsk Region
17/6,87
164,81
1/100
24/11,95
202,69
1/100
Increase by 7 hotbeds
Increase by 37,88 ha
Leningrad Region
0/0,0
0,0
0/0
1/0,06
0,06
0/0
Increase by 1 hotbed
Increase by 0,06 ha
Pskov Region1/3,0
10,0
0/00/0,0
0,0
0/0Decrease by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 10,0 ha
Northwestern FD
32/138,37
2067,04
3/1550
54/136,21
1441,06
3/750
Increase by 22 hotbed
Decrease by 614,07 ha
Moscow Region1/0,02
0,02
0/00/0,0
0,0
0/0Decrease by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 0,02 ha
Central FD1/0,02
0,02
0/00/0,0
0,0
0/0Decrease by 1 hotbed
Decrease by 0,02 ha
Overall in the RF
71/200,9
4364,76
4/1779
79/200,9
2803,37
3/750
Increase by 8 hotbeds
Decrease by 1549,49 ha
Source: EMERCOM of Russia
Wildfires situation in Siberia stabilises local administration (24 May 2011)
Wildfires situation in Siberia has stabilised, the local administration said on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Transbaikalia Region Evgeny Vishnyakov thanked paratroopers from Irkutsk, Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk for their assistance in extinguishing the wildfires.
Well organised and timely actions of the groups extinguished the complicated wildfires, which occupied the aviation protected zone of the forests, press service of the local administration said.
There are still three wildfires in the Transbaikalia Region, which occupy slightly over 23 hectares. 105 firefighters, 29 vehicles and one plane continue to extinguish the fires, the local branch of Russias EMERCOM said.
In Buryatia, which neighbours the Transbaikalia Region, the number of wildfires is falling, too, though they still occupy 480 hectares.
The fires at 460 hectares are localised, Buryatias branch of EMERCOM said. Over 80 firefighters, 17 vehicles and three planes continue working there.
Well organised and timely actions of the groups extinguished the complicated wildfires, which occupied the aviation protected zone of the forests, press service of the local administration said.
There are still three wildfires in the Transbaikalia Region, which occupy slightly over 23 hectares. 105 firefighters, 29 vehicles and one plane continue to extinguish the fires, the local branch of Russias EMERCOM said.
In Buryatia, which neighbours the Transbaikalia Region, the number of wildfires is falling, too, though they still occupy 480 hectares.
The fires at 460 hectares are localised, Buryatias branch of EMERCOM said. Over 80 firefighters, 17 vehicles and three planes continue working there.
Source: www.itar-tass.com
Fears of repeat disaster as fires rage in Russian east (24 May 2011)
Russia has reported 421 wildfires burning in forests and peat bogs over the past 24 hours, covering an area of 116,098 hectares (450 sq miles).
The fires were mainly confined to remote parts of Siberia and the Urals, with no blazes reported near Moscow and other central Russian cities.
But the area on fire is twice the size of that for the same period last year.
Drought, fires and smog left dozens dead and ruined crops in 2010, and there are fears of a repeat disaster.
The emergencies ministry said in a report on its website that the biggest fires were in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), the Amur region and the Krasnoyarsk territory.
More than 6,000 personnel equipped with more than 1,140 units of fire-fighting equipment were deployed against the fires, backed by 42 aircraft.
Of the 421 fires reported on Monday, 241 were extinguished, the ministry said.
Western Russia, the centre of the country’s grain production, remains largely unaffected by fire, but officials say the situation may deteriorate if dry weather persists.
Russia’s official forecast for this year’s wheat crop is 85-90m tonnes compared to some 61m in 2010, 97m in 2009 and 108m in 2008.
Meanwhile, drought conditions have been hitting grain crops in northern Europe, with some forecasters predicting above-average temperatures for the summer months.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Severe forest fires in Russia’s Siberian provinces (20 May 2011)
Severe forest fires were burning in Russia’s Siberian provinces with firefighters battling blazes in isolated mountain or steppe terrain, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (RMES) said in a Friday statement. Two regions – the Yakutia province and districts near the Amur River in Russia’s Far East – were the hardest hit, according to RMES satellite imagery. More than 7,000 firefighters had deployed to sometimes extremely remote regions to battle more than 450 blazes currently burning in tundra, forest, and plains terrain. The fires covered an aggregate area of 66,000 square hectares, or 660 square kilometres, the Interfax news agency reported.
Most of the fires been ignited by lightning and at present no areas of human settlement appeared threatened by flames, according to the report. Russia’s massive Siberian region contains one of the world’s largest woodlands. Fires are common during Spring and early summer as drying timber or steppe grass is struck by lightning from thunderstorms. Fires can ignite hundreds of kilometres from the nearest roads or railways, making firefighter response difficult and at times impossible.
Source: Interfax
Russian fire fighters head to Far East (19 May 2011)
Russias Emergencies Minister Sergey Shoygu has sent fire fighting planes, including Il-76 multi-purpose airlifter, to the countrys Far East to combat wild and peat bog fires, the ministrys spokeswoman reports.
Russia is now seeing peat bog fires increasing in number and already spreading over 45,000 ha. The worst situation is in Yakutia, Sverdlovsk, Amur and Khanty-Mansiysk regions.
Source: english.ruvr.ru
Recent Media Reports on Fires in the Russian Federation
- RIA NOVOSTI regular news & updates (2011) in Russian:
- RIA NOVOSTI regular news & updates (2011) in English:
- Shall peat bog fires cause emergency situation in Russia? (published by www.russia-ic.com, 07 July 2011)
- Rain Keeps Smoke Away (published by www.themoscowtimes.com, 06 July 2011)
- Rain could be Moscow’s last defense against the smog (published by http://themoscownews.com, 05 July 2011)
- Firefighters in Russia’s Far East put out all but one forest fires (published by http://en.rian.ru, 01 July 2011)
- Firefighters put out half of 12 forest fires in Russia’s Far East in past 24 hours (published by http://en.rian.ru, 28 June 2011)
- Ministry Fights Forest Fires With Crosses (published by www.themoscowtimes.com, 27 June 2011)
- 400 wildfires blaze across Siberia (published by www.ibtimes.com, 14 June 2011)
- Russian Wildfires Could Be Much Worse Than Last Year (published by www.businessinsider.com, 09 June 2011)
- Moscow faces more peat fires this year: Greenpeace (published by articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 09 June 2011)
- Russia facing wave of wildfires, could be worse than last years (published by www.digitaljournal.com, 09 June 2011)
- Fire fighting efforts are falling behind schedule (published by themoscownews.com, 08 June 2011)
- A Day of Fighting Forest Fires (published by www.themoscowtimes.com, 07 June 2011)
- Russia on fire (published by www.globalpost.com, 07 June 2011)
- Forest fires expanding in Siberia (published by www.upi.com, 05 June 2011)
- Emergencies ministry says much of Russia not ready for wildfires (published by http://en.rian.ru, 01 June 2011)
- Unknown cause for Russian arms depot fire (published by www.euronews.net, 27 May 2011)
- The Ural cluster got into wild fires (published by www.rusbiznews.com, 25 May 2011)
- Wildfires situation in Siberia stabilises local administration (published by www.itar-tass.com, 24 May 2011)
- Fears of repeat disaster as fires rage in Russian east (published by www.bbc.co.uk, 24 May 2011)
- Forest Fires Rage In Russia’s Far East, Siberia (published by http://planetark.org, 23 May 2011)
- Forest fires spread in Siberia (published by http://en.rian.ru, 22 May 2011)
- Severe forest fires in Russia’s Siberian provinces (published by Interfax, 20 May 2011)
- Wildfire spreads in Russia’s Siberia (published by http://world.globaltimes.cn, 15 May 2011)
- Firefighters battle raging wildfires in Siberia (published by http://en.rian.ru, 08 May 2011)
- Greenpeace accuses authorities of failing to fight wildfires (published by themoscownews.com, 06 May 2011)
- Firefighters battle 10 wildfires in Russian Far East (published by http://en.rian.ru, 03 May 2011)
- Medvedev smoulders over wild fire threat (published by themoscownews.com, 28 April 2011)
- Peat-bog flooding stepped up in central Russia to prevent wildfires (published by english.ruvr.ru, 28 April 2011)
- Medvedev orders no repeat of 2010 wildfire chaos (Source: Reuters, 27 April 2011)
- Meeting on wildfires prevention (published by eng.kremlin.ru, 27 April 2011)
- Medvedev to send officials to wildfires frontline (published by www.thenewage.co.za, 27 April 2011)
- Siberian forest fires getting closer to homes (published by www.newsbcm.com, 25 April 2011)
- 32 forest fires contained in Siberia by Monday morning (published by www.itar-tass.com, 25 April 2011)
- Number of Forest Fires in Siberia up 50 Percent (published by www.bernama.com, 23 April 2011)
- Vladimir Putin demands all agencies thoroughly prepare for fire season (published by www.newsbcm.com, 21 April 2011)
For more reports see GFMC Media page: https://gfmc.online/media-highlights-on-fire-policies-and-politics.html
Recent video coverage of wildland fires and politics in Russia
2011 wildland fire videos including interviews by the Federal Forest Agency of Russia (Rosleskhoz)
http://www.rosleshoz.gov.ru/media/video
News from 15 April 2011
http://www.1tv.ru/news/social/174762
News from 22 April 2011
http://www.1tv.ru/news/social/175158
Background on Wildland Fires in the Russian Federation
- Forest Fire and Smoke Episode in Western Russia 2010
- IFFN Russian Federation Special Issue (IFFN 32)
- Russia 2002 fire report
- IFFN Russian Federation 2002 Fire Special (IFFN 28)
- IFFN Reports from Russia
- Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN)
Bibliography on fire in ecosystems of boreal Eurasia
One of the results of the first international fire science conference in the Russian Federation (1993) was the publication of a monograph on fire in boreal Eurasia, including some selected contributions on boreal North America. The literature cited in the monograph contains numerous publications which in many cases are not easily accessible. To facilitate literature search the bibliographical sources are provided by topic (chapter).
Goldammer, J.G. and V.V. Furyaev. 1996. Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 390 p.
